Re: OWA Private or Single Barrel

I managed to pick up some single barrel OWA last time I was at Kahn's in Indy. I really like it a lot. When the first bottle was nearly empty. I opened a regular bottle to compare. I really like that too. They're not exactly the same, but pretty close.

Re: OWA Private or Single Barrel

Last time I was at TPS I kept asking one of their bourbon guys about rarer bottles like A. Bowman 19yr and various Willetts. He kept telling me that those were good, but value-wise the 20$ for the current single barrel OWA would be the best twenty bucks I ever spent. He was right. This was last May, so that barrel almost certainly isn't around anymore, but the moral of the story is, find someone at one of these shops who actually likes bourbon and try to get their opinion, if possible.

Re: OWA Private or Single Barrel

IMO, the wheated bourbon that Buffalo Trace has been putting out for the OWA brand the last several years has been maybe the best regularly produced whiskey out there. The regular, off-the shelf bottles have been terrific. And when looking back at the ~15 private barrel selections that I have tried, those have all been wonderful as well. Whether it be the TPS, Binny's, 1789's, CnB's, B&B's, McScrooge's, etc...they've all been great!! (though, I'll admit that the McScrooge's has been my own fave) I suspect all of the other ones that I have not had the privilege to try, are stellar, too. Some expected differences between barrels, but all within that wonderful OWA profile. So, if you're contemplating at getting an off the shelf OWA, you're going to do very well. Maybe the continued excellence of this brand has been the influence of having to fill the S-W PVW shoes for the Pappy iterations?...I don't know. But, this has been some seriously good whiskey, and I think we have been fortunate to experience it. It will be interesting to see where we go from here, though. I'm not sure you can get over a 6 year old private selection any more. But, there's more to good whiskey than age. So, I hope that the barrels continue to be great, and that OWA continues to be the wonderful bourbon that we have loved for some time. Hopefully, we'll hear good things from the private barrel selections that will be showing up, as that will tell us if the product is continuing on with it's excellence, even as it transitions to younger whiskey. Time will tell.

Re: OWA Private or Single Barrel

Originally Posted by smokinjoe

IMO, the wheated bourbon that Buffalo Trace has been putting out for the OWA brand the last several years has been maybe the best regularly produced whiskey out there. The regular, off-the shelf bottles have been terrific. And when looking back at the ~15 private barrel selections that I have tried, those have all been wonderful as well. Whether it be the TPS, Binny's, 1789's, CnB's, B&B's, McScrooge's, etc...they've all been great!! (though, I'll admit that the McScrooge's has been my own fave) I suspect all of the other ones that I have not had the privilege to try, are stellar, too. Some expected differences between barrels, but all within that wonderful OWA profile. So, if you're contemplating at getting an off the shelf OWA, you're going to do very well. Maybe the continued excellence of this brand has been the influence of having to fill the S-W PVW shoes for the Pappy iterations?...I don't know. But, this has been some seriously good whiskey, and I think we have been fortunate to experience it. It will be interesting to see where we go from here, though. I'm not sure you can get over a 6 year old private selection any more. But, there's more to good whiskey than age. So, I hope that the barrels continue to be great, and that OWA continues to be the wonderful bourbon that we have loved for some time. Hopefully, we'll hear good things from the private barrel selections that will be showing up, as that will tell us if the product is continuing on with it's excellence, even as it transitions to younger whiskey. Time will tell.